[for  the  soldiers.]  NO-  25. 

CHRIST'S  GRACIOUS  INVITATION. 


"Ye  sinners,  come:  ^tis  Jesus'  voice; 

Tlic  gracious  call  obey  : 
Mercy  invites  to  heavenly  joys, 
And  can  you  yet  delay  V 

More  precious  than  a  stream  of  water  to  a 
traveller  perishing  with  thirst — better  than  a 
skilful  physician  to  one.  dying  of  a  dangerous 
disease — more  welcome  than  a  reprieve  to  a  con- 
demned rebel,  is  the  voice  of  mercy  saying  to 
the  convinced  sinner,  "Come  unto  me,  all  ye 

THAT   LABOR   AND   ARE    HEAVY-LADEN,    AND    I 
WILL  GIVE  YOU  REST."  Matt.  11 :  28. 

These  are  words  that  can  never  lose  their 
sweetness  nor  power  by  age  or  repetition.  They 
areas  true  and  as  full  of  grace  and  mercy  now  as 
when  first  uttered ;  and  are  as  free  to  those 
who  hear  the  gospel  in  the  present  day,  as  they 
were  to  those  who  first  heard  them  in  the  land  of 
Galilee. 

Who  IS  he  that  spmJcn?  It  is  the  voice  of 
*^  Immanuel,  God  with  us."   Wbat  man  or  angel 


CHRIST  S   GRACIOUS   INVITATION. 

could  invite  a  guilty  world  to  come  to  him. 
Neither  Moses,  nor  Elijah,  nor  Paul,  nor  John, 
presumed  to  call  men  to  look  to  them  for  rest. 
Only  He  in  whom  "  dwelt  all  the  fulness  of  *he 
Godhead  bodily,"  could  give  rest  to  every  trou- 
bled soul. 

It  is  the  voice  of  a  loving  Saviour,  the  good 
Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  the  compassionate  Re- 
deemer of  men,  whose  heart  is  an  ocean  of  love, 
and  whose  love  led  him  to  take  the  form  of  a 
servant,  and  to  humble  himself  to  the  death  of 
the  cross. 

To  whom  docs  he  sj)cak  these  2cords  f  To  all 
who  hear  the  sound  of  the  gospel.  They  are 
addressed  to  the  man  of  pleasure  or  of  sorrow, 
the  man  of  wealth  or  of  deepest  penury,  the  man 
esteemed  for  his  morality  or  notorious  for  his 
viee,  to  Jew  and  Gentile,  to  "  every  creature 
under  heaven."  And  yet  they  seem  i^pecially 
suited  to  those  burdened  with  a  sense  of  their 
guilt.  To  those  who  feel  they  have  a  blind  mind 
and  a  hard  heart,  and  a  load  of  sin  that  presses 
them  to  the  ground,  these  words  come  as  words 
of  peace  and  hope. 

How  must  you  come  ?  Not  by  a  bod  ily  approach ;  ' 
this  is  now  impossible.     The  heavens  have  re- 
ceived him  out  of  our  sight.     A  local  coming,  if 
it  were   practicable,  might   be  useless.      Many 
came  to   Christ  when   he  was  on   earth ;   they 


.Christ's  gracious  invitation.  3   "P^r, 

heard  his  words  and  saw  his  miracles  of  mercy,  -^  S'j 
and  went  unhlesscd,  for  they  had  not  faith. 
Coming  to  Christ  is  the  act  of  the  soul ;  it  is  a 
spiritual  approach,  and  is  called  trusting,  receiv- 
ing, believing  on  him.  It  is  a  full  persuasion 
that  he  is  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of 
the  lost.  It  is  the  heavy-laden  sinner  giving  full 
credit  to  the  truth  and  sincerity  of  gospel  invita- 
tions and  promises.  It  is  the  hearty  belief  that 
Jesus  is  able  and  willing  to  save  from  sin  and  all 
its  consequences.  It  is  a  sincere  humble  depen- 
dence upon  the  merits  of  hii  sacrifice  for  pardon 
and  eternal  life. 

Wi/l  YOU  come  to  Christ?  Then  come  just  as 
you  are,  helpless,  unworthy,  full  of  guilt  and 
misery.  You  can  come  in  no  other  way,  for  a 
sense  of  sin  and  ruin  lies  at  the  foundation  of  the 
religion  of  the  gospel.  Do  not  for  a  moment 
suppose  that  you  Diust  make  yourself  better,  or 
prepare  your  heart  for  a  worthy  reception  of 
Christ,  but  come  at  once — come  as  you  are.  He 
saves  none  because  their  sins  arc  comparatively 
few  and  unnoticed  by  their  fellow-men ;  he  rejects 
none  because  their  sins  are  many  and  great. 

Christ  knew  the  worst  of  all  those  who  would 
come  to  him.  He  knew  the  depths  of  sin  to 
which  men  would  go.  He  understood  the  deep 
spiritual  necessities  of  every  immortal  soul  for 
time  and  eternity.    He  knew  that  men  burdened 


4  CHRIST  S   GRACIOUS   INVITATION. 

and  bound  by  sin  would  need  such  an  invitation 
and  assurance  as  he  has  given.  And  because  he 
knew  that  his  grace  would  be  sufficient  for  the 
worst  of  the  human  race,  he  therefore  said,  Come 
unto  me,jind  I  will  not  cast  you  out. 

If  he  made  such  a  promise,  what  can  prevent 
his  fulfilling  it  ?  Sooner  shall  heaven  and  earth 
pass  away  than  any  sinner  who  seeks  to  him  be 
excluded  from  his  mercy.  He  will  not  cast  you 
out  because  of  the  number  of  your  sins,  nor 
because  of  their  greatness  and  enormity,  nor 
because  of  the  peculiar  aggravations  attending 
them,  nor  because  they  have  been  of  long  con- 
tinuance— from  early  youth  to  hoary  age.  You 
may  be  a  profligate  and  an  outcast,  abandoned  by 
men  as  beyond  the  hope  of  recovery,  lost  to  your- 
self and  yourfriends,yet  say  not  that  you  are  exclu- 
ded from  the  invitation.  Even  you  are  addressed  as 
though  by  name.  The  invitation  says,  "Who- 
soever," llev.  2:^ :  7  ;  that  includes  you.  "If  any 
man,"  John  7:87;  that  embraces  you.  To 
"aZ/;"  that  takes  you  in.  It  says,  "  I  will  in  no 
ivise" — not  by  any  means,  or  on  any  account 
whatever-- — "  cast  him  out.^'  Surely  this  is 
enough. 

No  man  who  hears  the  gospel  has  any  pretence 
to  say  that  he  is  not  invited.  Stand  where  wo 
may  on  this  wide  earth,  among  nominal  chris- 
tians at  home,  or  among  the  heathen  abroad,  or 


i 


CHRIST^S    GRACIOUS   INVITATION.  5 

in  the  midst  of  Jews  or  Mohammedans — to  those 
of  every  clime  and  every  a^e  and  every  condition 
of  life — to  the  lovers  of  pleasure,  or  wealth,  or 
any  of  the  things  of  this  world,  and  to  the  most 
j^iiilty  and  the  most  hardened  of  the  human  race, 
with  confidence  and  joy  these  words  may  be 
addressed,  "  Come  unto  Christ." 

The  promise  is  that  he  will  give  you  rest. 
And  this  includes  pardon  and  acceptance  with 
God.  It  includes  a  deliverance  from  the  con- 
demnation and  the  tyranny  of  sin,  from  fear 
and  remorse,  from  all  spiritual  enemies  and  all 
vain  self-righteous  hopes.  It  is  a  cordial  for 
an  accusing  conscience,  it  is  consolation  foT  the 
oppressed,  it  is  peace  for  the  troubled  spirit,  it  is 
a  balm  for  every  evil  that  can  afflict  us  in  our 
passaji;c  through  life,  and  it  is  the  earnest  and 
pledge  of  the  glorious,  pure,  eternal  rest  of 
heaven. 

]yh((t  is  the  icarrant  of  all  tit  is  f  The  charac- 
ter of  him  who  spoke  these  words.  Christ  is 
love  incarnate — divine  love  in  human  nature. 
The  great  end  for  which  he  came  into  the  world 
was  to  seek  and  to  save  sinners.  lie  came  to 
honor  and  obey  the  law  that  man  had  broken, 
and  to  bring  in  everlasting  righteousness,  which 
is  "unto  all  and  upon  all  them  that  believe." 
Rom.  3  :  22.  He  came  to  die,  "the  just  for  the 
unjust,"  1  Pet.  3 :  18,  and   to  pay  the  penalty 


6  Christ's  gracious  invitation. 

that  maa's  sins  had  required,  by  offering  himself 
as  an  atonement  for  guilt.  The  promise  that  he 
makes, rests  on  the  value  of  the  infinite  price  he 
paid  to  secure  our  salvation.  He  does  not  offer 
a  gift  that  cost  him  nothing,  and  yet  it  may  be 
had  "  without  money  and  without  price.'' 

Consider  too  that  he  is  "  meek  and  lowly  of 
heart,"  and  will  not  proudly  repel  or  scorn  you 
for  your  unworthiness.  When  did  he  ever  turn 
away  from  the  cry  of  distress,  or  from  the  wail 
of  the  most  abject?  When  did  he  ever  reject 
those  who  sought  his  aid,  however  lowly  their 
condition  or  great  their  sorrow  ?  All  who  have 
come  to  him  have  been  welcomed ;  and  if  you 
draw  nigh  in  faith  he  will  not  cast  you.  out.  That 
you  may  come  aright,  he  promises  the  aid  of  his 
Holy  Spirit  to  make  you- sensible  of  your  sinful- 
ness, and  of  his  grace  and  ability  to  save  you. 

What  reception  will  you  give  to  this  "golden 
saying,"  this  gracious  invitation  ?  The  case  is 
urgent ;  come  speedily.  There  is  danger  if  you 
delay.  Do  not  speculate,  nor  argue,  nor  make 
excuse,  nor  hesitate,  nor  stand  looking  at  a  dis- 
tance, but  COME,  and  in  faith  cast  yourself  at  the 
feet  of  Christ  with  the  earnest  penitential  cry, 
"Lord,  save,  or  I  perish.  Lord,  I  believe;  help 
thou  mine  unbelief." 


i 


INVITATION. 


Come,  ye  sinners,  poor  and  wrotclied, 
Weak  and  wounded,  sick  and  sore, 

Jesus  ready  stands  to  save  you, 
Full  of  pity,  love,  and  power: 

He  is  able. 
He  is  willing:  doubt  no  more. 

Come,  ye  weary,  heavy-laden. 
Lost  and  ruined  by  the  fall ; 

If  you  tarry  till  you're  better. 
You  will  never  come  at  all: 

Not  the  righteous — 
tShi7icrs  Jesus  came  to  call. 

Let  not  conscfcnce  make  you  linger, 
Nor  of  fitness  fondly  dream  ; 

All  the  fitness  he  requireth, 
Is  to  feel  your  need  of  him  : 
This  he  gives  you — 

'Tis  the  Spirit's  rising  beam. 

Agonizing  in  tlie  garden, 

Lo,  your  Saviour  prostrate  lies  ! 

On  the  bloody  tree  behold  him  ! 
Hear  him  cry  before  he  dies, 

"/i!  is  ^finished!" 
Sinners,  will  not  this  suffice? 

Lo,  th'  incarnate  God,  ascended, 
Pleads  the  merit  of  his  blood ; 

Venture  on  him,  venture  wholly, 
Let  no  other  trust  intrude : 

None  but  Jesus 
Can  do  helpless  sinners  good. 


AOCEPTACNE. 

Saints  and  angels,  joined  in  concert, 
8ing  the  praises  of  the  Lamb; 

While  the  blissful  seats  of  heaven 
Sweetly  echo  with  his  name. 

Hallelujah  ! 
Sinners  here  may  sing  the  same. 


ACCEPTANCE. 


Just  as  I  am — without  one  plea, 
But  that  thy  blood  was  shed  for  me, 
And  that  thou  bid'st  me  come  to  thee, 
O  Lamb  of  God,  I  come. 

Just  as  I  am  ;  and  waiting  not 
To  rid  my  soul  of  one  dark  blot — 
To  Thee,  whose  blood  can  cltanse  each  spot, 
0  Lamb  of  God,  I  come. 

Just  as  I  am,  though  tossed  about 
With  many  a  conflict,  many  a  doubt, 
With  fears  within,  and  foes  without — 
0  Ij^imb  of  God,  I  come. 

Just  as  1  am — poor,  wretched,  blind  : 
Sight,  riches,  healing  of  the  mind. 
Yea,  all  I  need,  in  7'hce  to  find, 

0  Lamb  of  God,  I  come. 

Jnst  as  I  am,  thou  wilt  receive,   , 
Wilt  welcome,  pardon,  cleanse,  relive, 
Because  thy  promise  I  believe 

O  Lamb  of  God,  I  come. 


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